Why You Should Learn ASL
Most people understand the importance of sign language to the deaf community.
Without sign language deaf people would have to resort to writing down everything they wanted to communicate and attempt to read lips,. Yes, sign language is extremely important to the deaf community, but what about the rest of us? What benefit is there for us who are not deaf to learning sign language?
What everyday situations can you think of when sign language might come in handy. In sports: athletes signal plays across the basketball court, referees and umpires use hand signals too. We often find ourselves trying to use our hands to help communicate what we know the person we are addressing cannot hear due to the noise level. When trying to teach our children how to say the names of new items or how to ask for specific things we often point or mime to help them learn. Using our hands to speak is something we all do, without giving it much though.
Much research has been conducted over the past few decades to determine the benefits of learning sign language. A human who learns to sign in addition to another spoken language is considered bilingual. Being bilingual expands a human’s cognitive processes and literacy. Children who learn to sign as infants learn to read earlier than those who are not exposed to signing. Further, infants who learn to express their needs by signing typically learn to speak earlier than non-signers. Research conducted over a period of twenty years and presented in a paper at the International Conference on Infant Studies in 2000 in Brighton, England, indicates that children who learn to sign as infants not only learn to read before other children their age, but they also maintain an increase in I.Q. of 8 to 13 points.
When children know how to express themselves by signing, they experience less frustration and fewer tantrums than children who do not know how to sign. Parents who understand what their child needs in a given situation are less likely to become frustrated than parents who have no idea what their child is trying to communicate. This same idea applies to people with disabilities.Being able to communicate by signing relieves stress and reduces frustration.
Adopted children from other countries find using hand signs helps to lessen frustrations experienced by both parent and child when trying to communicate in two different languages. Using hand signs helps these adopted children to feel more confident and secure in their new environment. Children learn that their needs are understood and are being met. In addition to this important benefit, symbolic communication, or signing, is a natural part of language development in children and helps children adopted from other countries to learn their new language more quickly.
If you want to learn ASL, browse through our resources on the right to begin or continue your journey in the world of American Sign Language.
ASL
American Sign Language, or ASL, is the language used by the deaf community in the United States. ASL is thought to have originated in 1817 at the American School for the Deaf in Hartford, Connecticut. Prior to this time there was not a standard method of communication for deaf people. Communities were far apart, making it hard for deaf people to find occasions to meet with other deaf people. This lack of interaction made it nearly impossible to create a uniform method of communication. Families often created their own methods of signing to talk with their loved ones who could not hear and/or speak.
In 1817 Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet along with Laurent Clerc opened the Connecticut Asylum for the Education and Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons. Students lived at the school; they were taught French Sign Language while integrating signs of their own, thus forming what is now known as American Sign Language.ASL was influenced by FSL but, the two sign languages remain very different.
In 1856, land near Washington D.C was donated by Amos Kendall with the express purpose of establishing a school and dormitory for deaf and/or blind students. The school was named the Columbia Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb and Blind. Edward Miner Gallaudet, son of Thomas Gallaudet, was granted the position of Superintendent of the school. E.M. Gallaudet accepted the position with hopes that he would be able to turn the school into the first college for deaf students, fulfilling his dream. Congress was able to help him achieve this dream.
In 1864 Congress introduced a bill authorizing the school to award college degrees to students who completed graduation requirements. The bill created controversy because not everyone was of the belief that deaf students would be able to fulfill the obligations required to earn a college degree. The bill was signed into law in 1864 by President Abraham Lincoln. After accomplishing this goal, Edward Miner Gallaudet was promoted from Superintendent to President of the school. The first graduation ceremony was in 1869 with three young men earning diplomas. In a tradition that continues to this day, the diplomas were signed by the current U.S. President, the first being President Ulysses S. Grant. Congress changed the name of the school in 1954 to Gallaudet College in honor of Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and his contributions to the deaf community. The school was granted university status in 1986 and is recognized and valued resource for deaf people in every aspect imaginable: education for deaf and hearing students, career guidance, access to communication, preserved historical documents detailing deaf culture, American Sign Language classes, and research facilities.
American Sign Language provides a natural means of communication for people who are deaf and/or mute. For a long period of time, prior to the 1960s, ASL was viewed as a set of gestures or as being simplified or broken English. William Stokoe observed students at Galluadet University and discovered that the sign language they used had linguistic features, like any spoken language. He conducted much research and presented his findings in a paper titled, “Sign Language Structure”, in 1960. He announced that ASL is a natural, true language. In 1965 he published the “Dictionary of American Sign Language on Linguistic Principles” and in 1972 he further advanced his ASL research by founding a literary journal titled, “Sign Language Studies”. His devotion to proving ASL as a true language earned him recognition as the Father of ASL linguistics by the ASL community.
If you would like to learn ASL, browse through our resources on the right and begin or continue your journey through the wonderful world of American Sign Language.